Santiago, Chile – July 2023 – The Salesians of Don Bosco and the Daughters of Mary Help of Christians spend their retreat as a time to look at their own lives, their stories and their relationship with God. During the time of reflection and dialogue, led by Fr Darío Navarro and Sr Bernardita Meneses, at the Lo Cañas spirituality house in Santiago, the participants focused on sharing and analysing issues relating to Jesus Christ and religious life. There were two sessions: from 2 to 8 July, involving more than 40 religious from all works in Chile, and from 9 to 15 July, Fr Juan José Bartolomé, SDB, a Spanish biblical scholar, accompanied the Retreat for the third time, offering an in-depth study of his book "Come follow me". Fr Bartolomé commented that "religious life lacks vitality because it lacks radicalism in everyday life. This radicalism would be better lived if we approached and lived the Gospel more (...). We want to revitalise religious life and not increase the number, but increase the quality of life of those who are there. We must approach the Gospel, the fundamental texts, from the essential characteristics of following Jesus. Whoever is his disciple must realise that he must live by making an effort, sometimes facing very diffucult texts" he added. On the last day of reflection Fr Bartolomé emphasised: "I present Mary to you as the true disciple of God, who fulfils his will perfectly. This is the fundamental idea of what Jesus asks of his disciples. It is an example of continuous and permanent acceptance of God."